1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to microcapsules and methods of microencapsulating a core of fill material. The resulting microcapsules are adaptable to a variety of applications, but particularly for use in carbonless copying systems.
2. Background of the Invention
Microcapsules generally comprise a core of fill material surrounded by a wall or shell of polymeric material. The fill material may be either gaseous, liquid, or solid, and may be composed of a signal substance, a solution, a suspension or a mixture of substances. The wall surrounding the core of fill material acts to isolate the fill material from the external environment. When it is desirable to release the fill material, the capsule wall may be ruptured by mechanical pressure, for example, thereby introducing the fill material into its surroundings. Generally, microcapsules comprise separate and discrete capsules having non-interconnecting hollow spaces for a fill material. The fill material is thus enveloped within the generally continuous polymeric walls of the microcapsules, which may range from 0.1 to approximately 500 microns in diameter.
Uses for microcapsules are as varied as the materials that can be microencapsulated. Of particular importance are the uses of microcapsules in medicinal and biological preparations, fertilizers, flavorings, deodorizers, adhesives, xerographic toners, and carbonless copying systems.
Though microcapsules and microencapsulation techniques are applicable to a wide variety of products, one of the most significant applications is their use in carbonless copying systems. The present invention is particularly adaptable to carbonless copying systems and will be discussed primarily in connection with such systems. However, it should be understood that the invention is not limited to carbonless copy applications and may be used wherever the use of microcapsules is beneficial.
Carbonless copying systems usually include a plurality of paper sheets arranged in a manifold set, each sheet of the set having one or more coatings on its surfaces. The manifold set is designed so that when a marking pressure caused by a typewriter, pen, or other instrument is applied to the outermost sheet, a colored mark will be formed on at least one surface of each sheet of the manifold set.
To this end, the top sheet of the manifold set to which the marking pressure is applied is provided with a coating on its back surface. This coated back surface includes microcapsules containing an initially colorless chemically reactive color-forming dye precursor as the fill material. The upper surface of the next sheet, which is adjacent to the back surface of the top sheet, is coated with a material containing a component, such as phenolic resin or reactive clay, that is capable of reacting with the colorless dye precursor contained in the microcapsules to produce a color. Thus, a marking pressure on the upper surface of the top sheet will rupture the microcapsules on the bottom surface and release the colorless dye precursor. The colorless dye precursor then chemically reacts with the reactive component of the coated front of the lower sheet to produce a colored mark corresponding to the area of marking pressure. In similar fashion, colored marks are produced on each succeeding sheet of the manifold set by the marking pressure rupturing the microcapsules carried on the lower surfaces of each sheet.
The sheets of the manifold set in carbonless copying systems are designated in the art by the terms CB, CFB, and CF, which stand respectively for "coated back," "coated front and back," and "coated front." The CB sheet is usually the top sheet of the manifold set and the sheet upon which the marking pressure is applied. The CFB sheets are the intermediate sheets of the manifold set, each of which is able to have a mark formed on its front surface by a marking pressure and each of which also transmits the contents of ruptured microcapsules from its back surface to the front surface of the next sheet. The CF sheet is the bottom sheet and is only coated on its front surface so that an image may be formed thereon.
While it is customary to have the coating containing the microcapsules on the back surface of the sheets and to have the coating containing the reactive component for the capsules on the front surface of each of the sheets, a reverse arrangement is also possible. In addition, one or more of the reactive ingredients may be carried in the sheets themselves, rather than applied as surface coatings. Furthermore, the reactive component for the colorless dye precursor may be microencapsulated. Patents illustrative of the various kinds of systems that may be used in the production of manifold carbonless copying systems include by way of example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,299,694 (Green); 2,712,507 (Green); 3,016,308 (Macauley); 3,429,827 (Ruus); and 3,720,534 (Macauley et al).
The literature also contains many methods and techniques for preparing microcapsules, whereby two or more reactive components are brought together to form a microcapsular wall. A majority of these methods form the encapsulating walls by providing minute discrete droplets containing the intended fill material dispersed within a continuous phase that contains at least one of the reactive components. In one class of microencapsulation technique, the walls of the microcapsules are formed from reactive components that are present only in the continuous phase and not within the dispersed droplets. Examples of such microencapsulation methods are the urea-formaldehyde polymerization technique disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,016,308 (Macauley) and the coacervation methods described in U.S. Pat. No. Re. 24,899 (Green). The Macauley patent teaches the formation of a high molecular weight urea-formaldehyde condensate wall from a urea-formaldehyde precondensate that is present in the continuous, aqueous phase. The reaction is carried out by adjusting the pH of the continuous, phase. The Green patent discloses forming a gelatinous coating around oil droplets containing the fill material. This coating is then hardened into microcapsule walls by cross-linking agents present in the aqueous continuous phase.
A second class of microencapsulation is interfacial polycondensation exmplified by U.S. Pat. No. 3,429,827 (Ruus). The method taught by Ruus includes producing an aqueous dispersion of a water immiscible organic liquid containing one of the reactive components. A second reactant is then added to the aqueous phase whereupon the reactants form a polymer wall at the interface between the aqueous and organic phases. For example, the organic dispersed phase may contain compounds such as diacid chloride or mixtures of diacid chloride and disulfonyl chloride, and the aqueous continuous phase may contain compounds such as hexamethylenediamine, ethylenediamine, diethylenetriamine, triethylenetetramine, tetraethylenepentamine, or mixtures of a polyamine and polyol, such as bisphenol A, thus forming microcapsules having polyamide or copolyamide walls.
One possible disadvantage with the interfacial polycondensation method taught by Ruus is that at least one of the reactive compounds must be soluble in the aqueous phase. Thus, for example, the formation of a microcapsule through the reaction of an acid chloride with an aromatic amine, rather than an aliphatic amine, has not been possible via interfacial condensation since aromatic amine compounds are generally insoluble in aqueous solutions. The use of an acid chloride/aromatic amine pair is not feasible with coacervation techniques because they are not oppositely charged polyelectrolytes. Thus, there is a need in the art for a microencapsulation technique that would allow the use of two or more highly reactive components that are both substantially insoluble in aqueous media.